Antonio de Cabezon is one of those characters who appear in the history books for entirely the wrong reasons. We read too often that he was 'important' for writing sets of keyboard variations in the middle of the sixteenth century and was thereby a major influence on the English virginalists—a questionable proposition at best. But it is less often stated that he was one of the purest and serenest contrapuntist of his age, an age in which Spain is particularly rich in wonderful composers; and this is the feature of his work that is most clearly portrayed in the new record by Hesperion XX. Particularly in the works played by the ensemble of vihuelas de mano you can hear a supreme master of notes at work, a magician who can create fantasias of the most inexhaustible invention and beauty. And Jordi Savall's string ensemble is now surely without parallel anywhere in the world. With their rich, vibrant tone, they manage to create musical textures of the utmost clarity and lucidity, giving space to every significant detail, adding moments of stunning virtuosity, and at the same time always showing the strongest control of Cabezon's format designs.
Most of Cabezon's music survives in the form of keyboard tablatures—those published by Venegas de Henestrosa in 1557 and by the composer's son Hernando in 1578. And both volumes are fairly specific in describing the music as for ''keyboard, harp and vihuela'', so it is perhaps worth noting that the musicians here use no key board instrument and no harp, though two works are nicely performed on a pair of vihuelas. For the rest, the music has been adapted for various ensembles, primarily one of bowed strings and one of wind instruments based on a group of sackbuts. But in a sense part of the point in these arrangements is simply that they help to demonstrate the enormous richness of Cabezons counterpoint. They bring it to startling life at every point. And one significant feature of the performances is their excellent rhythmical control, with unusual flexibility and springiness in nearly all the pieces.
Sometimes the juxtaposition of instrumental groups works less well than it should. The wind ensemble may have little to fear from other such groups in the world, but they nevertheless sound slightly less refined than the strings, so it is sometimes disturbing to the ear to hear the two in quick succession, and the works with strings and wind instruments together show some fleeting moments of tricky intonation. But those are details: beyond any shadow of doubt, whether else may turn up in the course of the year, this is one for my next Christmas list.'